Editorial | End soap opera over hospital

Amidst the high-voltage battle over the future of Kosair Children's Hospital, the dueling parties - chiefly Norton Healthcare and University of Louisville Health Care - vehemently insist their main concern is the health care of kids.

If that's true, the current uproar - angry exchanges, press releases and hostile legal action from both sides - sure seems to be an odd way to express the supposedly shared goal of better health for Kentucky children.

Rather, it seems simmering tensions between Norton and U of L over finances and management have exploded into a full-scale war over control of the renowned downtown Louisville children's hospital managed by Norton, staffed by U of L pediatric doctors and which happens to sit on public land owned by Kentucky.

And the match that lit the fuse to this powder keg appears to be Norton's supposedly innocuous move to invite the University of Kentucky children's hospital to join it as a "partner" in providing care for children at Kosair that now is provided by U of L doctors and is a crucial part of its training for medical residents.

Here's how, according to Dr. David Dunn, U of L's executive vice president for health affairs. He claims the medical school was "blindsided" by Norton's announcement of the proposed UK partnership and he was furious that, in his view, they bypassed U of L to cut a deal with competitor UK.

Mr. Williams, while sticking to his story that the partnership with UK is merely to improve care for kids, readily acknowledges Norton didn't include U of L in the deal out of fear it its officials would try to kill it.

Moreover, he says Norton officials fear that an outside health conglomerate U of L Hospital partnered with last year, in a effort to bolster its financial viability, may be poised to make a grab for control of Kosair Children's Hospital.

That's because Norton believes Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, operating in Louisville as majority owner of KentuckyOne Health, of which U of L is a partner, could benefit from a contract clause that could allow it to wrest control of the children's hospital from Norton.

Mr. Williams points to the fact that U of L, apparently prompted by fury over Norton's dealings with UK, is seeking to "evict" Norton from the children's hospital property by claiming it is in breach of its $1-a-year lease agreement with the state.

Sound paranoid? Not really, according to an expert who tracks hospital mergers, who told The Courier-Journal that the clause Norton worries about could allow KentuckyOne to take over the children's hospital.

"They're written in there for a reason," said Lois Uttley, director of the New York-based MergerWatch Project, which tracks hospital mergers. "They can be exercised if they are advantageous."

Meanwhile, Dr. Dunn and Dr. Gerard Rabalais, chairman of pediatrics at U of L, claim Norton has been slowly starving the school's pediatrics department of funds it needs to operate by dragging out for nearly four years efforts to reach a formal agreement on services and compensation for U of L doctors who serve the children's hospital.

Norton, not surprisingly, disagrees, saying it can't reach an agreement because U of L keeps ratcheting up unreasonable demands.

U of L isn't the only entity unhappy with Norton. Kosair Charities, a prominent local charity that provides substantial support for the hospital that bears its name - at least for now - has notified Norton it has breached agreements over the charity's support of millions of dollars for the hospital, including care for children whose families can't afford to pay.

Neither side will say exactly what the dispute is about that carries an implied threat of Kosair Charities taking its name off the hospital. The parties told The Courier-Journal last week they are trying to resolve the matter.

This entire melodrama involves more plots and sub-plots than a season of "As the Worlds Turns," or more aptly, "General Hospital."

Children's advocate Terry Brooks says it's time for it to end so everyone can get back to the business of providing health care for kids.

"We're not interested in this provider soap opera or which corporate entity makes the most money,'' said Dr. Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Apparently, tempers have cooled enough for Norton and U of L to try to resolve their differences. The two sides have scheduled a meeting for next week, a Norton spokesman said Tuesday.

A quick and fair resolution would be a merciful solution.

Then all parties could truly claim that their most pressing issue is providing the best possible health care for children - and get back to it.

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Editorial | End soap opera over hospital

Amidst the high-voltage battle over the future of Kosair Children's Hospital, the dueling parties ? chiefly Norton Healthcare and University of Louisville Health Care ? vehemently insist their main